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I thought I'd share with you all one of my milestones in the building process,
the first engine start. Saturday was the big day. It's been just over a year
since the engine arrived, right around the time this forum was started. The
engine was mounted so that the forward deck and canopy could be fitted and then
set aside for about 6 months. During this time the instruments and wiring were
done. The last 6 months were spent installing engine accessories, hoses,
transducers, etc., jockeying with the interior and finishing the canopy and
rollover area. These last two were done so that once the interior went in, I
would be able to close up the plane, protecting the interior from overspray and
the like as I finished the outside.
It took a month to cleanup the engine area, checking bolt torques, lock
washers, paint markings, tying off wires, checking hoses, in order to get ready.
My basic checklist was Fuel, Air, Spark, and Oil. I created a detailed
checklist from this and noted any tasks that came to mind over the month. The
night before the start, we checked oil pressure by hand turning the prop with
spark plugs removed. It took 5 minutes but, pressure did show on the gage
finally. Spark was then checked and found on one mag (the one with the impulse
coupling) when hand turning the prop. So far so good.
The morning of the big day began with a trip to the local airport for 4
gallons of 100LL. And a check of where I sit on the hangar wait list. Next the
header tank went in and the plane was taken off the jack stands. We wheeled it
out onto the driveway at which point, the neighborhood kids began showing up.
They ranged in age from 6 to 60 years old. The tail was tied to the back of my
car in case the brakes were ineffective and salt bags were placed in front of
the mains. Kids were instructed to stay well away.
The next check was to see if the starter would work properly. I held my
breath and turned the key to start. Nothing happened. I then remembered that
the same breaker that protects the hydraulic pump relays, also serves the
starter relay. The hydraulic pump relay was pulled for the entire test. With
the circuit breaker properly set, I tried again, the prop jumped (and so did I
probably, since I let go of the key). Another twist and the prop turned over
robustly. Much better than the Mooney I was used to flying. Now I was getting
excited, but also anxious. What a combination.
Next I put a couple of gallons of fuel in the header tank. Although it had
been leak checked, I watched the tubing for leaks. No sign of a problem. The
canopy was then installed and the protective coating removed (for the first time
too). I had two men on either side of the plane with fire extuinguishers ready.
One had a headset tied into a handheld transceiver. Unfortunately, my sticks
were out of the plane for the interior work so I could only hear, not speak due
to the missing push-to-talk switch. So we worked out basic hand signals in case
of disaster.
I engaged the fuel boost pump (injected engine) and heard what sounded like
the pump simply drawing air. In my setup, the fuel goes from the tank, through
the shut-off valve, to the inline filter, to the pump to the gascolator and then
to the engine. One of the guys opened the drain of the gascolator and that
seemed to do the trick as the pump now began to load up. A couple of more shots
of the pump and fuel pressure began to register.
Now for the moment: mixture in, prop in, throttle at quarter inch, battery
master on, alternator off, feet on the brakes (in case they do work), turn the
key. The prop cycled for 10 seconds but no firing. Everything looked OK,
including the guys outside, so we go again. The prop cycled another 10 seconds,
and just as I was going to release the key, it fired and caught. At that
instant, my senses were completely overloaded. Too many new sounds, sights, and
vibrations. Your habits eventually kick in and you pull the throttle to set
about 1000 rpm. For an instant, I had no idea what to do. I looked for oil
pressure (good), fuel pressure (good) and cylinder head temps (not registering
yet). (The cowlings were not in place so that we could check for leaks).
Nothing but thumbs up from the guys outside the plane. The vibration was
different than metal planes I had flown but similar to Lancair's factory plane
and another 360 I had flown in. The artificial horizon came alive for the first
time! I detected a faint burning smell and shut it down with mixture (that
worked too and nothing seemed amiss).
We broke out the champaign (do have some handy for this occasion) and had a
brief celebration. Next, I started it again. It fired right up this time. I
ran it up to about 1700 rpm and checked the mags (OK). Alas, I forgot to cycle
the prop so that will be next time. Vacuum looked good. Sun shining on the
instruments made reading the LED displays tough (the instrument glare shield was
not installed). All during this time I had a battery charger hooked up through
a piper style external power socket in the skin of the plane. The charger was
being blown around a bit so one guy removed the plug. The VM-1000 immediately
threw up a low voltage warning, reminding me that now would be a good time to
test the alternator. I held my breath again and turned on the alternator switch
as I watched the amp display and listened for anything ontoward. After a
second, the gage registered about 15 amps and voltage went up to 14. Success.
I ran the engine for about 3 or 4 minutes while watching the temps. exhaust
temps quickly registered bars on the display but the CHT bars never moved. The
CHT digital readout went as high as 280 degrees before I shut it down.
Bystanders said the plane was very loud and were surprised by the force of
the prop wash. It was noticeably straining on the tie down rope. I checked the
brakes before putting the plane back in the garage (might have done that before
firing it up) and they seem to work (including the parking brake).
For those of you looking forward to the first engine start, it's every bit
as exhilarating as you might think. I'm very glad I had the reassurance of two
guys with extuinguishers outside looking at the engine for any sign of leaks.
Something you may want to do better than me is to more carefully plan what you
will do the moment the engine catches. Exactly what gages do you want to look
at and what are you looking for. Next time, I will do this and have spaces to
write the values down. It really is amazing how little your mind can process in
such a new environment. I'm sure with familiarity, it will get much easier.
Keep building! It really is all worth it.
Best Regards,
Ed de Chazal
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